Rev. B vs. Rev. A 12" PB - Advantages?

[gsnixon]

Hi everybody -

I'm in the market for a 12" powerbook w/ superdrive. Smalldog has a great deal on a refurb Rev. A 867 model, but I've always been a bit wary of Apple rev. A's. And while I'd certainly like to save the money, I'm willing to spend more for a better quality machine. I could care less about the 133 MHz difference, but is there anything else that would make me think twice about buying this one? I've heard about the heat/warping problem, but I've also heard that Panther fixed this. Since I would be getting it basically new, I wouldn't get the warping, right? Does the 1GHz get hotter than the 867, or vice versa? Also I've heard the Rev. B screen is better. Is this true? Any and all input would be greatly appreciated. Whay would you do? Thank you!

 

[johnnyjibbs]

I haven't had much experience of the rev A but I have the rev B superdrive version and I am very pleased with it.

Improvements over rev A:
- 1GHz processor (133MHz increase)
- 512k L2 cache(instead of 256k)
- Better graphics card - Nvidia GForce 5200 Go (instead of 420 Go - both 32MB vRAM)
- USB 2.0 ports (instead of slow USB 1.1)
- Mini-DVI port (instead of analogue mini-VGA)
- Higher max RAM - 256MB soldered on (instead of 128 soldered and 128 in slot)
- No heat problems (although I think this was a myth with the other version, except in some isolated cases)
- Panther included (probably not in older version)
- 2x Superdrive (biggie) (instead of older 1x speed)

Not sure about the older screen, but I have no brightness problems with my screen. Note that the rev B contains the newer G4 processor also.

I'm very pleased with my rev B PowerBook and it works perfectly well with Final Cut Express, espcially now I have given it 768MB RAM. If I were you I'd go with the newer one, or at least try for a refurb rev B. There is supposed to be a big performance difference between the two - in fact the old rev A is now the 12" iBook G4

 

[QCassidy352]

I agree with all of those advantages. I think the rev. B is a big improvement.

Actually, if I were you, I'd go 12" G4 ibook over rev. A powerbook. The PB has 67 more mhz, but the ibook has the better graphics card (by far), usb 2, and no heat problems.

 

[gsnixon]

hmmm..... didn't realize all that.... thanks a lot guys!

 

[ExoticFish]

doubling the L2 cache really helped performance a lot, so although the "133MHz" difference isn't that much, the extra cache makes things much speedier. I have the rev.B and a friend of mine has the rev.A and his is quite noticably slower than mine. go for the rev.B is what i have to say.

"Grandma was slow, but she was old!"